Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

- July 20, 2015 Meeting Minutes-

Date: July 20, 2015 Time: 6:30pm Location: Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, 500 W. Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI MEETING ATTENDEES NOAA: Jeff Gray, Jean Prevo, Russ Green, Cathy Green, Jacqueline Kendziorski, Meaghan Gass, Chuck Bennett, John Bright, Travis Wahl, Phil Hartmeyer, Makanani Bell – NOAA Hollings Scholar, Sarah Waters, Anne Gentry State of Michigan: Sandra Clark SAC Members: Mary Christensen-Cooper, Vera Kavanaugh, Nancy Kinney, Steve Kroll, John McVeety, Carol Shafto, Chuck Wiesen SAC Alternates: Andrew Augustyn, Susan Austin, Roger Baumgardner, Anne Belanger, Michael Beaulac, Shari Davis, Jim Dessenberg, Robert Doyle, Steve Kroll, Merl Melton, Ron Meneghel, Susan Nielsen Ex-officio Member: None Public: None Media: None WELCOME AND ACTION ITEMS Carol Shafto called the meeting to order. Jeff Gray welcomed everyone and announced that we had asked Carol Shafto to be the special chair for this meeting. This is the first council meeting since the council disbanded in February to allow for restructuring due to boundary expansion. Excited to welcome 11 brand-new members, that is almost half of the council. Introductions were made. Carol spoke about the role of being an advisory council member. Carol stated it is more than sitting at meetings; we look to SAC members for volunteering and supporting the sanctuary’s programs and attending special events. Carol encouraged alternates to attend all of the meetings and participate in discussions. When we are sitting at the table, everyone is equal. Alternates can do everything but vote when the member is there and they cannot hold an office.

-2-

Chuck Wiesen motioned to approve the February 24, 2015 meeting minutes. Roger Baumgardner seconded the motion. All were in favor. SAC Orientation & Volunteer Reception – We will be hosting an orientation for new members but it is open to everyone. Email will go out late this week with all of the details. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTIONS Jeff went over the roles of the two positions available chair and vice chair. The chair helps plan the meetings and helps lead the council through major decisions. The chair also becomes the face of the sanctuary, talking to other people interested in having a sanctuary in their area, representing at events, as well as being involved with the national council, calls, and one time per year attending the national SAC Summit. The chair holds the superintendent and staff accountable and pushing in the right direction. The vice chair position is just as important as the chair, it’s more like a co-chair than a vice chair. Both positions are 2 year terms. Jeff asked if anyone is interested in holding the position of chair or vice chair. Carol Shafto said she was interested but only if no one else was interested in holding the position. She was chair of the SAC before so she is familiar with what is expected. Chuck motioned to nominate Carol for the position of chair. Ron Meneghel seconded the motion to close nominations. All were in favor. Carol was elected chair. Roger Baumgardner nominated Chuck Wiesen as vice chair, Steve Kroll seconded. No other nominations. Ron motioned to close the nominations – John McVeety seconded. All were in favor. HOLLINGS SCHOLAR PRESENTATION – MAKANANI BELL Sarah introduced Makanani Bell, NOAA Hollings Scholar. Makanani gave the presentation “Shipwreck Archaeology Youth Camp: Building Lifelong Stewards of Sanctuary Cultural Resources through Engaging Young Community Members” Sarah also spoke about the many other student opportunities within the sanctuary. For more information contact sarah.a.waters@noaa.gov. FRIENDS OF TBNMS UPDATE – Cathy Green Cathy gave an overview of the Friends. It’s a 501c3 that is here to support the sanctuary. Having a non-profit allows us to do things we couldn’t do as a government agency. Events and Sponsorships Grants and Partnerships Individual Membership Donations Revenue Generation The Sanctuary Store is run by the Friends of TBNMS, the revenue earned by the store is used to support education and outreach programs.

-3-

The Thunder Bay Maritime Festival and the July 3rd SUPs & Sud’s events were both Friends events. The SUP race was a partnership with Dork Brother’s Racing. The Friends also received a $20k grant from Meijer to be used for theater renovation and education programs. When you donate to become a member of the Friend’s you will receive a membership card which will get you 10% off items purchased in the store. Contact Cathy Green if you would like to become a Friend of TBNMS. Carol spoke about the importance of being a member of the Friends group, $5, $10, no matter the amount it is helpful for Cathy to be able to say that the sanctuary advisory council is 100% behind the Friends group. Chuck Wiesen is the President of the Friends board. Chuck spoke about the importance of having the Friends’ money to help continue the sanctuaries mission and the amazing things that people do here, during times when the sanctuaries regular budget is on hold (ex. during continuing resolution). The Friends money has provided bussing to school groups, supported outreach and education programs, as well as staffing the store and visitor center. SANCTUARY UPDATE - TBNMS Staff The Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail – Connecting and Protecting Our Maritime Past This project is part of a bigger trail project to interpret and connect our maritime landscapes. The trail started in 2003 behind Alpena’s Federal Building with a cool cities grant. In 2006, more panels were added behind the GLMHC and along the trail. Sanctuary staff are in the process of developing 109 more panels in this next week. The trail will cover a three county area and will be located at state parks, community parks, lighthouses, public waterfront, marinas and other jumping off points. Installation of the new signs will begin late this summer and hope to have them all installed by late May 2016. Sandra Clark from the State of Michigan spoke about the importance of trails in Michigan right now. The Governor designated trail money and TBNMS is a poster child for the heritage trail landscapes. Trails make it more accessible to people. Education & Outreach Snapshot – Sarah Waters Sarah Waters gave a thorough overview of the sanctuary's Education and Outreach Action Plan by referring to three guidance documents: 1) NOAA's Education Strategic Plan 2009-2029; 2) ONMS's Education Strategic Plan 2010-2020; and 3) ONMS's Education Five Year Implementation Plan 2010-2015. Highlighting the sanctuary's current focus areas of Heritage, STEM - ROV, and STEM - watershed studies, Waters outlined how through various programs and initiatives, the sanctuary is successfully meeting the following five objectives previously laid out in the TBNMS Final Management Plan:

-4-

1. Build an education and outreach program that complements and promotes sanctuary resource protection and research programs. 2. Increase ocean and Great Lakes literacy. 3. Target user groups and underrepresented audiences for participation in sanctuary programs. 4. Promote the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center and Trail as primary mechanism to implement education and outreach programs. 5. Increase communication and coordination among sanctuary education and outreach programs and partners. These objectives have driven the creation of such programs as interpretation and field trips aboard the glass bottom boat, a vigorous ROV program including professional development workshops, classes, field trips, and the regional competition, a number of distance learning events, a proven and robust media strategy, and place-based watershed education opportunities for students. The legacy of these programs is evident in the momentum of Alpena High School's Shipwreck Alley and Alpena Community College's Marine Technology Program. TBNMS' Education & Outreach program continues to work with partners on a number of levels to build upon these successful programs. Research Team –Russ Green Russ spoke about the importance of the sanctuaries mooring buoy program. Gets people out on the water but also protects the wrecks. Visibility on the wrecks is best during the early spring. Had a videographer here working on some shallow water wrecks. Also did some work down in Alcona County. Working on putting mooring buoys on them. John Bright did some work in Wisconsin with the R/V Storm and worked on baseline data for some of the wrecks that they’ve been working on. The partnership with Wisconsin was a good way to show them the opportunities a marine sanctuary can provide. Research team did rebreather training for up to 200 feet certification with tri-mix. Right now there is a team from the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary doing photogrammetry on a select group of wrecks. Gilchrist Wrecks – Don LaBarr and Wayne Lusardi have been working on documenting those wrecks for Don LaBarr’s thesis. Technical diving projects going on through the next week. Research team will be working with the ACC marine tech summer class. Also working with Michigan tech with some high-tech gear and GLERL to do some sinkhole work.

-5-

PUBLIC COMMENT – August 1st dedicating range light park in Presque Isle. Installing a prototype of a reading rail there. – Nancy Kinney Steve suggested giving out Management Plans to the new SAC members. They will be distributed at the SAC orientation. ADJOURN – The meeting was adjourned at 9:10pm Next meeting is September 15th 6:30-9:00pm.

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Advisory Council

- September 15, 2015 Meeting Minutes- Date: September 15, 2015 Time: 6:30pm Location: Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, 500 W. Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI MEETING ATTENDEES NOAA: Jean Prevo, Stephanie Gandulla, Russ Green, Jacqueline Kendziorski, Meaghan Gass, Chuck Bennett, John Bright, Travis Wahl, Phil Hartmeyer, Sarah Waters, Anne Gentry State of Michigan: Wayne Lusardi SAC Members: Chuck Wiesen, Nancy Kinney, Vera Kavanaugh, Mark Upham, Don MacMaster, Steve Kroll, John McVeety, William LaMarre, Denise Cline SAC Alternates: Ann-Marie Ruder, Merl Melton, Susan Austin, Ron Meneghel, Shari Davis, Eric Lawson, Shawn Sexton, Michael Beaulac Ex-officio Member: None Public: None Media: Nicole Grulke – The Alpena News WELCOME AND ACTION ITEMS Chuck Wiesen called the meeting to order. Steve Kroll motioned to approve the July 21, 2015 meeting minutes. Ann-Marie Ruder seconded the motion. All were in favor. New SAC Member orientation is scheduled for October 20, 2015 from 5:30-7:00pm, volunteer appreciation reception to follow at 7:00pm. If someone is unable to attend the orientation, please contact Jean or Jeff and they will schedule a separate meeting. A copy of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Management Plan was distributed for review prior to the orientation. The digital copy can be found at www.thunderbay.noaa.gov. Sanctuary Store is a function of the friends of TBNMS. Sarah Waters introduced Anne Gentry, who was hired to fill the position of Visitor Experience Manager. Sarah showed some of the new items available for purchase in the store. The visitor center hours are 9am-5pm, until the boat season ends on October 12th. Starting on October 13 the visitor center will be open seven days a week, 10am-5pm Monday through Saturday and Sunday noon-5pm.

-2-

FILM UPDATE A Wreck Hunter’s Evolution – featuring Steve Kroll. This film is currently part of our daily theater rotation and it will also be featured at the Thunder Bay International Film Festival in January. 4th Annual Thunder Bay International Film Festival – January 27-31, 2016 – Highlights: Preview party w/local wine tasting Award winning films Science on a Sphere films Michigan and visiting filmmakers Filmmakers’ panel Kids’ day – Sunday the Education Room will be turned into a space for kids to watch movies Wrap party Volunteer Opportunities: Film screening Sanctuary ambassador Ticket takers Theater ushers Filmmaker liaison Photographer, videographer Event planning And more If you would like to volunteer please contact steph.gandulla@noaa.gov. Earth is Blue YouTube – The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries lead a campaign last year called “Earth Is Blue,” which was used as a hashtag on all pictures and videos for during the campaign. You can see all of the videos and pictures at www.sanctuaries.noaa.gov/earthisblue. If you have any videos or pictures you would like to submit, please send them to Stephanie and she will submit it. Sanctuary Media Library - www.marinelife.noaa.gov/medie_lib/ Ocean’s Live - www.oceanslive.org PORT HURON TUSKEGEE PLANE PROJECT – Wayne Lusardi, State of Michigan Archaeologist During the middle years of World War II Michigan was home to several African American air combat units including many graduates of the Tuskegee pilot training program. While US Navy pilots were training on makeshift aircraft carriers in Lake Michigan far from the perils of the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, Army Air Force pilots were likewise simulating aerials combat and bombing exercises over Lake Huron. Airfields at Selfridge on Lake St. Clair and Oscoda on the

-3-

shores of Lake Huron became bases for many units including the All-African-American 332nd fighter group. As with many similar programs during the war, dozens of accidents occurred that resulted in the loss of both aircraft and crewmen. In August 2015 Michigan’s Sate Maritime Archaeologist, Wayne Lusardi, led a team of volunteers including members of the National Association of Black Scuba Divers and Diving with a Purpose, and two law enforcement agencies to document the aircraft wreckage, inventorying and photographing all of the associated aircraft parts, munitions, and artifacts. SANCTUARY UPDATE - TBNMS Staff Research Update – Phil Hartmeyer This summer archaeologists from Thunder Bay and Monitor National Marine Sanctuaries partnered to document some of Thunder Bay's historic shipwrecks in the newly-expanded boundaries of the sanctuary using cutting-edge imaging technology. First, archaeologists used the Catlin SVx camera system to take 360-degree panoramic shots of shipwrecks ranging in depths from 5 to 185 feet. This new tripod-mounted camera system will yield Google Maps Streetview-like imagery that users can interact with by clicking and scrolling. Second, photogrammetry was used to create 3D digital models of shipwrecks that archaeologists can used to further interpret, document, and manage sites. This method involves taking hundreds of still photographs around a shipwreck and stitching them together. Once cohesive and collated, these images produce the 3D model. These ground-breaking technologies further enhance our ability to interpret, research, protect, manage, and share these incredible historic sites with the public Media Update – Stephanie Gandulla Through a partnership with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Thunder Bay NMS was featured on a 3,685 square-foot screen in New York City’s Times Square in August. The video played 20 times per day for one week. Times Square has approximately 1.5 million tourists per day. The second part of this advertising campaign targeting New York travelers was a full-page ad in Horizon Magazine, an insert distributed in the Wall Street Journal that goes to 230,000 consumers.

There have also been a number of Associated Press stories since we made a connection with the Detroit AP office during the International ROV competition last year. In the spring, there was an article about classroom cruises aboard the Lady Michigan, then a story about the Tuskegee expedition in Port Huron, and finally the story about 3D imaging of sanctuary shipwrecks.

Many media outlets across the country, and even the globe, pick these AP stories up from the wire, including: Washington Post Seattle Post-Intelligencer The Detroit News Detroit Free Press Arizona Daily Star The New York Times The Guardian USA Today

-4-

Additional news coverage came in the form of various sanctuary articles and reports in: Dive Training Magazine CBC Radio News - Canada Lansing State Journal Wall Street Journal NPR’s WCMU NY Daily News Michigan History Magazine Our regular media appearances continue with 101 print articles during the last fiscal year and 97 appearances on WBKB-TV’s weekly and monthly shows, and weekly appearances on the True North Radio Network Stephanie showed a video about the importance of social media. TBNMS has Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages, with over 12,000 friends on Facebook. If you’re on Facebook please like us and follow us on all of our social media accounts. Interpretation Update – Sarah Waters Marine Technology & ROV Simulator Exhibit coming this fall. Alpena Community College and a Preserve America Grant provided funding for this exhibit. Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail – staff are working on placement of the signs. There are a few different types of signs: Trailblazer for people that want to snorkel or kayak a shipwreck. Larger signage will provide more interpretation and information on the wreck with underwater images and historical data and GPS coordinates and depth, and will also talk about the trail and the mooring buoy on the site. Trailhead kiosk – small and large sizes, double sided. Standard interpretive sign Reading Rail signage – little larger than the standard interpretive sign Sarah talked about the Harrisville Park and 40 Mile Point Lighthouse and where the different types of signage will be used at those two locations. Signs will encourage people to continue to explore the trail and find more signs and shipwrecks along the way. All of the signs will contain a resource protection message. There are over 60 sites, if you want to see all of the different locations, feel free to stop in and see Sarah Waters. Once all of the site locations have been verified the information will be posted on the website.

-5-

PUBLIC COMMENT – How does the sanctuary work with the CVB? If we have an event we notify them. The reverse is also true. Whenever they know of a bus tour, cruise ship, etc. they give us lead time so we can participate. The sanctuary is a positive partner for the DDA, CVB and Chamber. We have links on our webpage to the CVB. We also have staff members on the DDA, Chamber of Commerce and the CVB branding campaigns. Shari Davis wanted to applaud everyone that has worked on the trail project. Ann-Marie Ruder complimented the staff on the quality of the meeting presentations and how much outreach occurs and how far it reaches. ADJOURN – The meeting was adjourned at 8:10pm. Next meeting is December 15th 6:30-9:00pm.